In the manufacture and maintenance of elements and components, it is known to implement a wide range of operations using robots. If the corresponding parts to be processed are not too large, in particular if they have a diameter not greater than approximately 2 m, the relevant operation regions in which one or more operations are to be carried out may be approached and processed by the tool elements of robots in a highly precise manner in accordance with the prior art. Thus, for example, surface treatments (for example cleaning, priming, sealing and/or lacquering treatments) may be carried out, connections may be established between a plurality of individual elements, holes may be drilled, grooves may be milled, electronic contacts may be soldered or gaps may be sealed, to name just a few of the many possibilities.
If different component variants are to be processed or treated, in the conventional procedure they always have to be recalibrated, resulting in high complexity. In addition, the conventional automatic control becomes more difficult as the size of the parts to be processed increases. For example, in aviation, architecture or shipbuilding, where the components usually have a diameter of more than 2 m, robots or installations used, or else the tool elements thereof, are generally initially brought to an approximate position relative to a component to be processed by one or more operators (manually) and/or using automated interior positioning (for example by way of indoor GPS), before being precisely calibrated using fixed reference points in space, in a time-consuming, complex method, so as to be able to implement the intended operation. Equally, inaccuracies often occur in this context, the consequences of which in turn have to be prevented and/or eliminated, adding further complexity. For example, if the operation involves applying material and/or additives in a very precise location (for example filling a groove with filler material, covering rivets and/or sealing edges), the corresponding application edges are generally masked before the operation, so as to prevent any soiling to the component resulting from imprecise positioning of a material nozzle and/or a (locally) inappropriate amount of material; excess material is removed after a filling process. The corresponding masking material has to be removed again after the process. Quite often, the material properties (for example viscosity, curing and/or working life) are only inadequately adaptable to automation or to different processing speeds in automation, and the robot cannot be guided precisely enough to the local points of the large components. Ultimately, the quality of local application in large components cannot be evaluated in real time by conventionally used means.